Teen and tween girls and boys are posting clips of themselves on to YouTube accompanied by the question 'Am I ugly?'

A short search yields scores of videos from insecure 11, 12, 13 and 14-year-olds, their anxiety forcing them into the notoriously harsh world of online commentating to find an answer to their misguided question.

The worrying trend has mushroomed of late, though the videos first starting appearing two to three years ago.